Wednesday, March 28, 2018

paperie booklet pouch

When Aneela Hoey released her latest pattern, the Booklet Pouch, I knew I would be making one. I have a crush on pouches. Shocker, I know. :)


As usual, with this type of pouch, I find the assembling of materials and prepping to be the longest step. I chose to use some carefully hoarded fabric from the Paperie line by Amy Sinbaldi. Once I had everything together, the actual making of the pouch took much less time than I anticipated.



Here area a few tips I've compiled for when you make your Booklet Pouch.

1) Read all the instructions through. And when you've done that and are ready to start making it, do it again. All the way to the end.

2) When attaching binding to the pockets and outer layers, the pattern says to sew just inside the fold line. I recommend stitching at maybe 3/8 of an inch as it will make turning it easier.

3) See step one. If you happen to be shortening a separating zipper, follow the instructions at the end of the pattern. Don't be cocky and think you've got it covered because you've sewed dozens (or hundreds) of zippers in the past. Don't assume that it will magically fix itself either. I'm sure you're sensing a bit of a lesson learned here.


See these adorable little tabs I added after the fact to my pouch? They're not part of the pattern but are actually a fix for something I should have known better than to do. I was so excited when I finished my pouch so quickly, I patted myself on the back for being so speedy (ha)! With my family as an audience, I zipped up the exterior zipper and then the zip pull just kept on going and went right off the pouch. It's not supposed to do that.

Quickly looking at the pattern, I realized I missed a vital step. (See step one above. Despite having read the pattern at least twice, I may have glazed over a little excerpt on the last page.)

I put the pull back on and then thought I'd be clever: I attached little tabs that matched the binding to sort of extend it around the corner and over the zipper ends. Proud of myself, I went to attach my zipper and close my book - it turned out I had the pull on the wrong side of the zipper. (For real.)

So, I ripped those tabs off (they were ugly anyways) and pondered what to do (short of ripping out the whole pouch). Once I put the zipper back together (CORRECTLY), I thought of ribbon. Ribbon would work. Scroll up to see the cute little ribbon tabs I added. They so adorably cover my glaring rookie mistake.




If you're nervous about sewing with vinyl or attaching binding, don't be. The pattern walks you through the steps beautifully. And if you think my experience scared me away from building another one, you're wrong. I'm already plotting the fabrics. 

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

lift off

I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around how fast the last year has gone by. So many things have changed as we've adjusted to having our newest little member in our family.

Photo by the amazing Brandie of Brandie Grant Photography

Now that our little baby is over a year old, I've been working hard to get back to my making while still juggling homeschooling 2 children (3 next year!!), running our home and caring for all the littles.

There are a lot of balls being juggled constantly, but I seriously wouldn't want a different life. (I've worked full time with three kids before and it is not something I would willingly revisit, at this point in our life. I would rather do with less and be with my littles, than have a bigger income and be without them. Disclaimer: I know this is not necessarily an option or the right fit for everyone. It's just what works for us.)


So, let's see - what have I been up to this past year? (I may have knit a few socks and made a few quilts.)






Just before we were pregnant with Atticus, I began to dabble with yarn dyeing. Once pregnant though, the smell of dyeing and making in general was just something I couldn't do while battling nausea and exhaustion. I was in survival mode. Thankfully, the desire to craft and make, and the ability to dye yarn came back after his birth. (Thank GOODNESS!)



In the last year, I've resumed playing with yarn and I am slowly developing my yarn business. I tend to be self-critical, so I'm constantly reminding myself that building a successful (sustainable!) home business takes time, hard work and patience. And I'm learning to trust my gut and not question or doubt myself as much. 



My favorite part is the color. I absolutely love getting inspired by a photo or a fabric and planning a color of yarn that would work for that perfect project. It's the same reason I quilt and play with fabric.
Honestly, the fact that people want to buy the yarn is just icing on the cake. (You can find my shop here.)

I've finished knitting my first sweater using yarn I dyed myself. Being involved in every step of the creative process, from picking the colors and watching them fade into each other while knitting was so magical.
Pattern: So Faded by Andrea Mowry.
Colors (top to bottom): Caribbean Blue, Video Killed the Radio Star, Huckleberry Memory, Bella, Sweet Dreams.



I've also released my first knitting pattern, for DK weight socks on Ravelry

Simply Socks DK
If you've followed me for a while, you'll know I have a thing for making project bags and pouches as well. I love making and having beautiful pouches to store my knitting. 



I had new labels printed!



Out of necessity and the inability to find the perfect sweater size project bag, I am now making a large sweater knitting bag pattern. (More info to come soon!)

I have all sorts of things planned for the near future. Some are fun and quite new to me. But I'm so excited. I just wanted to say Hi and touch base. It's been a while. 

xo,
Jade